


Another Fic, Another Chapter

by ShamefulBirb (TheTravelingLemon)



Series: the Septiplier Book Club [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF, jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Characters Reading Fanfiction, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-06 05:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12204702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTravelingLemon/pseuds/ShamefulBirb
Summary: Mark records a video with Jack about reading Septiplier fanfic and share their thoughts on it.





	1. First Dip in the Water

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic in a long time! Originally it was going to be smut but I had too much fun writing that sweet sweet buildup, so expect a smut sequel eventually. But for now, its just them being dorks and hanging out, so enjoy!  
> [I did an art](http://shamefulbirb.tumblr.com/post/165812860229/hey-guys-i-made-a-fanfic-i-might-make-more) for the fic on my tumblr

Mark was still setting up the camera when Jack walked in the office with snacks. “Come on, you can’t bring food in here, this is a  _studio._  I don’t want some sticky sugary shit in my mic or keyboard” Mark complained lightly, but he was focused on getting the internet tabs ready and double checking the recording software. “Don’t pull that shit with me, I’ve watched you eat hot peppers in this exact spot and drown yourself in milk like yer fuckin Ricky Martin.” Jack said with a half chuckle and pulled up another rolling chair to Marks set up. “I mean, fair, but now you owe me at least half of those jaffa cakes” Mark said, quickly snatching one from the box when Jack got close enough. 

 

“Okay so what do you have prepared for us today?” Jack said, glancing at the screen for a moment. He didn’t have his screen capture up? maybe they were playing a phone game or something. “7 second challenge?"

 

“Nope.” Mark clicked on his last audio adjustment before hitting record. “Hello everybody, my name is Markiplier” Mark already started his intro and wildly gestured to Jack for him to introduce himself to the camera. Jack was caught off guard from waiting for Mark to explain what they were doing, so there was a sudden silence. Mark continued to jazz hands at Jack, expecting him to do anything. Jack just held up two thumbs up and said “what is up my cranky boys?” in a silly voice. Mark broke first and started to laugh, would he cut that out later, who knows? “Jack has spent a long day of signing autographs, kissing hands and shaking babies over at the convention, and I figured that MY favorite thing to do to unwind is read!” Mark had his usual chipper announcer like voice and Jack was quietly saying “noooo” under his breath, afraid of where this statement was going. “And what better reading than some good old SEPTIPLIER FANFICTION” Mark said all too joyously. “you’ve GOT to be fuckin kidding me” Jack’s hands shook in the air before carding them through his own hair nervously. 

 

“No no, I would never kid about excellent storytelling. Now Jack, pick your poison, shall we read “Pax of Passion” or “Horse Cock Dildos in MY soup?” “ Mark said with the most maniacal of smirks. Jack was groaning but had to laugh at the terrible clickbait title. “Oh god they BOTH sound so ENTICING. Lets go fer Pax of Passion, at least have some romantic build up to the part where we bone senselessly.” Jack said, leaning forward to click on the tab. “Fuck Mark you have 20 of these fucking things open, did you proofread this shit?"

 

"I wouldn't want to ruin the ~surprise” Mark replied with the most goo goo eyed face he could muster. Jack pushed his dumb face away with a smirk. “don’t look at me like that, you’re liking this WAAAAAYYY too much.” Jack said before he cleared his throat. They were reading through the WHOLE thing, and later in editing, they would take out the juiciest bits. At first it was pretty typical. Jack was a fanboy when it came to his senpai Mark and they accidentally had to share a room with only one bed. Oh MY such WACKY hijinks. They started to scan other fics for something interesting or funny for the video. There was a LOT of writing tics among the community now that he was reading through these. “What the hell is with them constantly refering to us as the irishman and the american? It makes it feel like I’m reading a fic about two flags fuckin” the american exclaimed after having to read the phrase “the american” for the 5th time this paragraph. Jack chuckled, but felt kind of bad afterwards. “hey, you try writing 5,000 words and see how far you’ll get!” Jack said, vaguely defending the presumed 13 year old girl who was probably writing this.

 

“I’ll take you up on that! We should absolutely write fic together!”

 “Mark that’s not what I meant”

 “I already did it with Tyler and Ethan, and it was great”

 "no, god rephrase that sentence- Just stop talking and get on with the reading!"

 

Jack had vaguely glanced over these before. sometimes people would outright send them to him or he would just be scrolling his tag and his eyes just sort of wandered. But It was much stranger to hear the words actually come out of Marks mouth. The writing always seems to play off Mark as this super macho, overly romantic guy, and yet when he read his lines…”Oh my Darling, don’t be nervous. I’ve loved you too, ever since we did our first collab together.” Mark hammed up with his lofty honey like voice. Jack was sweating a little because fuck, Mark IS such a ham, he half wondered for a moment if he really was that kind of person romantically. ” ‘Fook', Mark, you’re making me blush” Jack said, biting his cheek, because he was genuinely starting to blush. His eyes might have glanced ahead at a certain scene and WOW was it steamy enough to make a sailor blush. Jacks eyes were focused on reading the story as Mark got to his next line.

 

“I’m sorry, I can’t help myself. Your eyes are just so striking from this close.” Jack didn’t see in his peripherals that Mark was actually acting out the fic to be extra hammy and placed a hand on Jacks cheek right as Jack read out the action in the fic. “jEBUS-“Jack jumped and swatted away Marks hand with how he was startled. he turned his head to look at Mark to yell at him more but Marks face was 2 inches from him. “fUCK” Jack cursed, going bright red in the face and nearly falling out of his chair with how startled he was the second time. “get the fUCK away from me! STRANGER DANGER” Jack squeaked out, making a joke out of it.

 

They started to read the sex scene and WOW. Jack was laughing and inching away from Mark as he talked about licking and nibbling warm spots into Jacks lower body. “stranger danger STRANGER DANGER, GET OUT OF THERE, FAKE ME, DONT YOU SEE THE SIGNS?” Jack got as intense as he always did, but was even more so today to try to scream his way out of his discomfort. “Please show me on the irishman where the bad fictional Mark touched you” Mark motioned to Jack, making a wild joke to calm his own nerves. Mark was honestly a little flushed after reading this very descriptive sex scene as Jack was getting more into it out of his nerves, making joke moans on occasion. When he looked back at Jack, he was rubbing his nipples and jiggling his eyebrow like “he touched me HERE sir.” Jack said in a porn girl voice. Mark snorted so hard, he had to walk out of the room for a moment to compose himself.

 

They got through the fics, making fun of things here and there, doing stupid voices and just generally taunting the writers and the readers with remarks of “is this what you weirdos get off to?”….Until they got to the authors notes of one of them. The girl was writing her thank yous to all her friends that helped proofread the story and how happy she was to be in this accepting community….. About how she wouldn’t be here without the friends she made because of Mark and Jack. Marks heart was kind of warmed for a moment, but Jacks face sunk. Mark started to give a shout out to the author trying to be a good spirit before clicking on the next one, but Jack grabbed his shoulder. Marks smile faded as he saw the look on Jacks face. “Hey….maybe we shouldn’t do this….or post this.” Jack said, feeling awful. Mark sort of understood but still wanted to hear Jacks thoughts. “you okay?” Mark said, shutting off the camera and sinking back into his chair.

 

“No- its, I don’t know, It just feels kinda dickish, ya know? Someone out there probably put their heart and soul into these. And they idolize us  **a lot.**  Like way more than they should, and. It probably hurts to see your idols laugh at your work, even if your work is writing us as kissing vampires or whatever.” Jack said, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. Explaining it like that, seeing Jacks disappointment hit Mark like a ton of bricks. “Fuck you’re right…God I’m a fucking asshole.” Mark slumped in his chair and fussed with his hair. God he didn’t think of it like that, he thought it would just be funny. He felt so ashamed of himself and was definitely internalizing it. Jack watched Mark sink further and further and felt a little bad pointing it out. “Hey, you’re not an asshole. I was with you too for a moment, and you wouldn’t call me an asshole.” Jack said, trying to cheer him up and pat him on the back. Mark came out of his slump for .2 seconds just to sass him back, “YER aN AsShOLe, jaCk.” Mark said with a grumpy face. “you RUDE motherfucker” Jack shouted jokingly and pushed his rolling chair. 

 

Mark got up and started to close the programs and shut off the equipment, a clear slump as he moved. “You have to admit, even if there was a lot of amateur writing, some of those weren’t half bad.” Jack said, trying to start up a more relaxed conversation about this mess. “That one about the zombies wasn’t half bad I suppose. “ Mark said, a little sheepishly closing some of the tabs. “You thought so too? I mean, because that one was barely septiplier. I mean, it was there obviously but like, it was just more sweet and sad than- HEY don’t close it!” Jack suddenly shouted, making Mark flinch. “what?”

 

“I was going to READ that one later” Jack whined. “what was that zombie one called?”

“I don’t know? Why do you want to read it so bad, trying to look for some saucy undead porn"

“No. I don’t even think its going to go there….and come on, don’t act like you weren’t going to read it later too. I swear to god if they change the names, they have a novel there."

“…..it WAS really interesting. I mean, we had to click away because we were wasting time reading it rather than making jokes.” Mark rubbed his chin for a moment and actually pulled it back up from his history. 

 

“Look, there you go, there’s the name.” Mark gestured to the screen as he sat back down in his seat. He was going to close it right after Jack wrote down the name on his phone, but his eyes picked up right where they left off in the story. Jack finished fiddling with his phone, but watched how captivated Mark was in the story. He inched his rolling chair closer to Mark’s so they both could be right in front of the screen. After finishing chapter 2, Jack was leaning on Mark’s armrest and Mark had reached over Jack to steal another Jaffa cake.

 

Just one more chapter, Jack would say.

We can’t just leave it there, Mark would say. 

 

Neither of them noticed the 200k word count. The only time they stopped was to grab a blanket when it got cold. They didn’t even notice the irony of all the fanfics that would talk of them sharing a bed and now here they were, leaning against each other in one shared warm blanket. The story was just too tense and emotional. Jack would watch the FUCK out of this if it were a movie….and maybe not about his best friend pining for undead him. Maybe. Jack rubbed his eyes with the strain of reading off the bright computer screen for so long. He clicked for the next one, feeling the weight of Mark on his shoulder as he shifted. “What? There’s only one more chapter?” Jack quietly grumbled, looking at the date. It was updated recently so it must still be ongoing. He looked at the corner of the screen and- “christ- is it really 3am? Mark we-“Jack turned his head to Mark’s, which was sitting on his shoulder and heard his soft snores. 

 

Jack let out a quiet chuckle. “Aww. weak. I thought you could keep up with the best of them and here you go passin out on me.” Jack said.  They got really sucked into this story didn’t they? He moved to push Mark off him or wake him up, but the dork was heavy and in pretty deep sleep. He knew Mark overworked himself, he probably hasn’t had a decent nights sleep in a while. He didn’t want to disturb him when he looked like he needed it, but he should be in a bed, not on Jack. 

 

Jack tried to shake his shoulder to wake him up gently, but that just prompted Mark to cling to Jack in his sleep. All this shaking and moving made their rolling chairs drift a little, making Mark sink just a little further into Jacks shoulder. “Mark! come on, you got to-“ Jack tried one more time but got caught just looking at Marks sleeping face. He knew the man was conventionally attractive but, maybe it was just the reflection of the computer light on his face that seemed to give him this soft glow. Jack resigned that Mark was going to wake whenever he felt like it. 

 

He took Marks glasses off so he didn’t sleep with them and….well now he was very aware of Marks face. All this fan fiction must have got him in a weird headspace, that’s all. Or maybe it made him aware of a different kind of headspace. He felt his face get warm. No no, it had to be the first one. He tried to deny and squash out that strange fluttering feeling he was getting in his gut and just take a nap right there.

 

He couldn’t deny how very much he liked how soft Mark’s hair was against his cheek. or how warm Marks hand was that cuddled against his arm. Or how just sitting and reading with Mark made him feel so calm and happy like very few things did.

 

Maybe the next chapter of this fanfic didn’t have to be their last.


	2. Slow burns slowly burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack presents the idea of reading fanfic every week together. but how long can it last?

When Mark woke up the next morning, the first thing he saw was the painful glow of the computer screen, still on that apocalypse zombie fic they were reading. He barely noticed how Jack was clinging to him in his sleep, unconcerned and unphased with this whole scenario. Staying up and reading fic with your friend was normal enough right? And they were youtubers, they were pretty abnormal to begin with so that only made this extra normal.   
  
Mark got only a little huffy when he saw Jack had gotten 3 chapters ahead of him. He really couldn't wait just a little? Spoilers damn it. Mark looked over at Jack in his shoulder. He wanted to nag him for reading without him but looked so peaceful when he was asleep like this. Mark put on his glasses- did he take them off? Jack must have took them off him last night. He wanted to go get breakfast, but now that he could have a better look at the sleepy green boy currently resting on his arm, he thought he shouldn't wake him.  Mark clicked back to catch up on the chapters he missed. Just until Jack would wake. 

 

These last chapters. Wow. The story was really building up. Mark was having a swell of emotions Fanfic Mark was hunkered down while they were running tests on undead Jack. He cared so much. He went through so much for something he had no idea was certain because he loved Jack so much he couldn't bear to be without him. This fic was labeled Septiplier, but it was such a slow burn, nothing was shown as expressly romantic. Just an intense deep care for the closest person to him in the world. Mark looked down at Jack for a moment. He definitely couldn't say that Jack was the closest person to him, but he definitely wished they could be closer. Mark didn't think he had it in him to go through the heartbreak and agony that fanfic Mark had to go through. As much as Mark loved Jack, he just didn't have the kind of dedication to give up everything in his life for the mere chance to save him. That was the really heartbreaking part too, fanfic zombie Jack was already gone. Imagine having to watch someone you love die in your arms. Imagine having to do it twice. Mark’s eyes started to well up with tears just at the sheer concept of having to watch Jack die in his arms. 

 

His tears dripped down over Jacks sleeping face. The water drips made Jack slowly blink into being awake. “hm? Mark?” Jack glanced up, for a split second expression filled with worry for the crying man. Then he looked at the screen at the fanfic. Then he also remembered that this is the same man who weeps at puppy videos, so crying isn't actually a big deal. “you got to that part? Ha yeah, that was a punch to the gut if I ever read one.” Jack pat Mark on the back soothingly. Mark looked at Jack like he was a ghost. For just a moment. A short moment, but none the less, impressive that the writing had that powerful of an effect. Though the look was short, Jack still caught it and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Mark, I’m  _ here _ . It's just a story. Jesus, you got so worked up.”he teased a bit, but still spoke in a soothing tone, rubbing his thumb in circles against his shoulder. Mark rubbed his eyes, a bit embarrassed. “I know I know! I just. It got me thinking, you know?....it’s a good story, alright, don't give me your stupid sass.” Mark drifted into a grumble and sniffle. Jack chuckled. Gosh he knew Marks fandom always made jokes about him being a sappy sobber but watching him blubber in person really cemented the idea for him. Jack picked up the blanket wrapped around them and semi mockingly dabbed at Marks tears. “ ‘oh baby, you cried for me? I'll wipe away all your tears from now on’ “ Jack quoted one of the less well written fics. “Oh FUCK you” Mark groaned, really annoyed that for a second, he actually thought Jack was genuinely wiping his tears and was mildly comforted. And even if his brain only believed that for a millisecond, he's still a sap. “if you die in my arms I'll be HAPPY then, okay?! Fuck it- I'll laugh! HAH. HAH. HAR.” Mark comically over exaggerated motions pushed Jack away. Jack laughed and tried to pull himself next to Mark again after he was pushed away. They soon settled down and went back to reading the last available chapter together. The laughter was a well needed break from the drama of the story. Jack and Mark could still feel the weight of their laughs in their chest as they leaned on each other and kept reading.

 

This was nice. It just felt so good and simple. They should do this more.

 

“Hey Mark.” Jack interrupted Marks reading.  Mark didn’t want to tear his eyes away from the story but Jack knew he was listening. “we shouldn't do it for a video, but maybe we should read more fic like this. This was really fun.” Jack said, placing a hand on Marks arm to get his attention. Mark finally looked over, a little quizzically. “what? You  _ want  _ to read more septiplier?” there was clear embarrassment in his voice. “It doesn't have to be septiplier- I mean, I think a couple of those might be fun too, but I just meant reading fanfic in general. Together. I probably wouldn't do this on my own but this was nice...and earlier when we were going back and forth with the characters, it was like I got to voice act something for a bit!” Jack started getting a little excited at that. The thought of doing audio books had crossed his mind before, but without the other person to bounce off of, his attention span had trouble getting through a whole book. And these were like nice snippets of stories. Even the long ones like this still somehow felt like they went by fast with Mark by his side. 

 

Mark thought it over, a mild blush creeping to his face. Read septiplier fics with Jack? Like on the norm? ...the truth was, where he got the video idea to read fics from was actually all the fics he had read about doing that thing. The weird truth was that he had perused the septiplier fics in the past. It started as just reading what people had to write about his egos. Then he saw a couple fics shipping Dark and Anti and it started to snowball. It's not like he read fic frequently, it would just be whatever happened to come on his tag. It was honestly just a secret guilty pleasure. Even he didn't know why he did it. But sharing that guilty pleasure with Jack? He was really worried about making this a regular thing. But Jack seemed so enthusiastic about the idea…”alright then. If you think it'll be fun, we can webcam and do ‘book’ club every friday” Mark said, scratching the back of his neck and looking away. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He already did a full day of it and that was a blast. “Fanfic fridays!” Jack sprung up excitedly. His enthusiasm started to rub off on Mark and a smile crept up to his face. “ I’ll help pick out the stuff to read. You just give me a list of things you're interested in reading or  _ not  _ reading.” Mark said, already having one or two in mind. “It’s a date!” Jacks phrasing was weirdly appropriate for what they would be reading, but it still sort of made the both of them awkwardly chuckle.

 

With the dates set and conventions coming to a close, Jack went back home across the pond. The first session together was okay. Mark went out of his way to pick fics that were interesting, but had nothing to do with septiplier. He found a couple cool patrol ones. They even drifted away from YouTube fics and did some overwatch and portal and such. And with this weekly commitment to read with each other, they would end up spending the rest of the week hanging out over webcam calls.  They were pretty decent friends before but now it felt like they were inseparable. And even better, since this was just their private time, there wasn't a resurgence of “SEPTIPLIER ISN'T DEAD ANYMORE!!” ….that is until they started playing more games online together. And just the sheer collaboration gave fire to the comments section again. 

 

“ ‘My fave ship is BACK. take THAT crankiplier! Crankiplier is dead, long live SEPTIPLIER!!’ “ Jack read the comments to Mark, stopping to scream every time they used capslocks. Mark’s laugh was cut in the call by the poor internet connection Jack had in his new apartment. “you shouldn't read the comments, you know, that's like the number one rule of YouTube” Mark said between chuckles, now reading some of the comments himself. “But I have to interact with my faaaans. Besides how will I learn the hip new lingo without them. Like what the fuck is crankiplier?” Jack said, having an idea, but nonetheless asking.

 

“we've been reading fanfic together for nearly a year, how do you not know?” Mark said, already opening up a new Ao3 tab to show him the tag. “I'm guessing it's romance shit with you and Ethan.” Jack said, scrolling in the comments more, seeing more people fight for their ships. ‘screw your crankiplier, Tythan is better.’ Jack piped up with another comment with a wide grin. “ ‘you all suck, septicrank is clearly best ship.’ ” Jack laughed a little. “there's a ship for ME and Ethan? I could have been dating Ethan all this time instead? Clearly I was in need of a trade-in.” Jack started searching it on Tumblr, waiting for an explosion of dicks but instead seeing nothing but fluffy cute things. “Fuck Septiplier, Septicrank is the best ship clearly.” 

 

“WHAAAT. Fuck Ethan, I could be a way better boyfriend than he could.” Mark said with feigned offense in his voice. Jack was a little glad the slight pink warmth that was coming to his face probably wouldn't show up on the webcam with his garbage internet connection. The thought of Mark being his actual boyfriend had crossed his mind many times with all the fic they had been reading, but he was actively trying to bury the thought that he might actually like being his boyfriend. He went back to the jokes, not wanting to dwell on the thought.  “I don't know, Mark, according to Tumblr, Ethan is much more caring and sweet and attentive than you are, you're gonna have to work hard if you don't want me to run off.” Jack said still scrolling through the tag causally. Mark, as usual, decided to ham up the joke. “Oh baby nooo. Baby come back, he can't love you like I can, I swear. I can change. Septiplier can't be dead because there is no me without you.” Mark begged, giving Jack his big ol brown puppy eyes over the cam. Jack had been looking through the tag and not at Mark up until that last line. 

 

‘there is no me without you’. Fuck that was the dorkiest thing, probably ripped straight from one of their fanfics, and yet for a second, it made Jacks heart skip a beat. His mind started filling immediately with the unlikely possibility of that being true. Them dating. Them being inseparable. For a moment he forgot the rest of the universe and his own disdain and worry for the concept and just purely enjoyed the thought of being held in Marks arms and genuinely called ‘baby’ . To actually not just be reading fic about it but to actually have Mark feel as strongly as Jack had for him. He let the thought stay for too long and that thought clung tight to his heart and mind. He mentally woke up, less than a second from where he begun, remembering that they were real people and not just fictional characters and feeling a pit in his stomach. ‘ _ Fuck. Do I like Mark?  I think I like Mark _ .’ he thought to himself. He quickly pulled out his phone, trying to act like his pause was just him getting distracted. ‘ _ calm down, Seán, it's just part of the joke, right? Just play along with the joke and don't think about it too hard’  _ Jack thought, scanning through his phone contacts.  __   “can you remember our Pax of PASSION?” Mark continued the gag as he watched Jacks eyes spark with an idea and started dialing his phone. “Oh ‘babe’, why don't we let Ethan weigh in on who would be the better boyfriend?” Jack teased, back to smiles quickly but stopped dialing when he saw Marks face suddenly drop the act. 

 

“woah woah woah- don't call Ethan, Jack  _ seriously, don't call Ethan.”   _ Mark's tone lost all it's previous joy. “we’re just joking around, but Ethan gets  _ seriously  _ uncomfortable about this shipping stuff, even as a joke. So.. it's probably best you don't bring it up to him. Besides, it would bring a lot of questions, you know?” 

Jack slowly put his phone down,looking down at the ground with a sudden deep shame. Like he mentally woke up again.  _ They weren't fictional characters. They were real.  _ Just as soon as he started to realize his own crush, it punched him in the gut. If Ethan was repulsed by the concept, could Mark? Sure, Mark could joke and play around, but that's because none of it was real. Jack thought of sharing his fleeting thought of them actually dating and imagined Marks face curl up with discomfort and disgust. He would probably stop fanfic Fridays. He'll he would stop talking to him. He wanted to throw up, suddenly repulsed by his own feelings. God this was his  _ friend.  _ Maybe he was excited about reading this fanfic with him because he liked Mark all along and this was just him pretending. God why was he such a creep? Jack sunk so instantly, Mark immediately noticed. “Woah, man, it's alright, you didn't know...we just need to keep this stupid fic stuff between us okay?” Mark said, trying to calm Jack down. 

 

Jack looked up at Mark, just for a second. Just the thought of that face looking back at him with such...disappointment. disdain and distaste. “n-no, it's not that. Something else just came up- I, I have to go.” Jack said, wanting to instantly hang up. “wait! Jack- ah...just remember not to read the next chapter of the Zombie fic without me. The new chapter came out today and I really really want to read it with you….you’re going to visit LA soon right? Maybe we should save it for when you're here rather than read it this Friday.” Mark tried to get him excited for that instead of whatever was plaguing his mind at the moment. 

 

“I-....okay. Will do. Bye.” Jack said, not looking at the screen when he hung up and closed the program. He curled up into a ball in his chair for a moment.  _ What was that? Pull yourself together.  _ Jack felt...slimy… like he was somehow inherently dirty just for having these feelings. He got up from his chair to go take a shower. 

 

He canceled the next couple of fanfic fridays claiming he was busy preparing for his trip to LA. It wasn’t completely untrue. He just needed time to prepare. Needed space from this sudden part of him that was seriously thinking about dating Mark. He needed to prepare. When he would get to LA, he knew the first thing Mark would want to do is read that zombie fic they've been holding off on. Their fic. Even that little wording of ‘their fic’ put another flutter and another pit in his stomach. 

 

Every day that got closer to his flight brought him further down.

 

The next chapter of their fic would either make him feel safe and okay again or make him turn tail and run home. 


	3. Always Listen to the Tags

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack gets recommended a fic that might be too much for them to handle.

Jack had downloaded a couple of short fluff comfort fics onto his phone for the plane ride over to LA. He tried to avoid the septiplier ones because of his newfound guilt over his crush, but he couldn’t avoid sneaking in one or two sweet simple oneshots. Things that wouldn't remind him of the pain. 

He had to stop when one went south on him and it turned out it was untagged unrequited fic that hit a little too close to home. 

Right before the plane ride, he had set up a fake Tumblr, AO3 and Discord. Some way to interact with these fics. Tell these people how much he appreciated them, and maybe even ask for more recommendations. There was one recommended au of them being paranormal investigators. He loved the alternate reality ones. They felt the most separated from his real life. And the stories were so creative, he wished these people would just change the names and write a novel. Another group from the discord screamed excitedly about this one fic where Mark gets kidnapped. Sounds dramatic and interesting, but potentially too real for comfort. No, that would be silly, he could completely separate reality from fiction. He tried to ask for more details, but they insisted that he just had to read it for himself. 

On the plane, he thumbed over the open tab of the kidnapping fic, but after the last fic that upset him, he figured that it would be best to save reading that for when he was with Mark. Especially considering it was a novel in length. 

When the plane landed, Jack was greeted with open arms. Jack melted in Mark’s strong arms. This was the first time he’s come into contact with Mark since realizing his crush. It made him feel so...safe. His mind buzzed with so many scenarios of Mark being disgusted if he ever found out his feelings, but this small gesture made him forget all that. He buried his face in Mark’s neck for a moment, wanting to just forget his worry. “You okay there? The plane ride must have been torture.” Mark said, patting Jacks back softly, indicating the hug was over. Jack released him slowly, not wanting to let go but knowing there would be more hugs in the future. 

On the drive home, Jack babbled about all the new games he played and how excited he was to do some local multiplayer games with Mark. 

Then their zombie fic got brought up and the car was filled with hype and wild theories. Jack looked over his list of recommended fics. “maybe….we should save the best for last. I got a lot more fics we can try out. And this might be the last update for a while.” Jack suggested. Mark groaned. “really? I've been waiting for you to visit and you want me to wait longer?”  
“Just a little longer! Just until later tonight. Warm ourselves up with some of these recommendations I got. “ Jack rubbed his hands together. “I just got this long one-”  
“you got a long one?” Mark cut off with a waggly eyebrow. Now it was Jacks turn to groan. “just get us home”

The moment they got back to Marks place, they unloaded Jacks bags and Jack was shown the guest room. They had to pass by the office to get to it. Jack peeked his head in, seeing the zombie fic already up on the computer. Damn he was eager, wasn't he? Mark opened the door to the guest room, sweeping his arm over like he was presenting a 5 star hotel room. “~Monsure, your room” Mark said in the worst French accent. Jack giggled and already started to unpack. “when you're ready, if you're hungry I can order a pizza. If not, we can get right to the book club in the office.” Mark said, standing at the door. “order the pizza, I'll meet you in the office when I'm done.” Jack said with a smile. Mark nodded and closed the door behind him as he headed off. Jack sighed when Mark was finally away and laid on the bed for a moment. Everything was exactly the same as it's always been but now this new found crush was making him feel so very different about it all. 

He waited about 15 minutes to let his brain cool down and recover from all this before heading to the office. Jack was pleasantly surprised to see their 2 chairs pushed together with blankets and snacks. Mark came in with a bowl of pizza rolls and set it on the desk next to the other stuff. “alright Jack. What is your brilliant new fic suggestion.” Mark asked, plopping down in his seat. Jack typed away at the AO3 search bar. He knew this fic was highly recommended, but he got nervous when he saw the tags. Holy shit, he knew this was a kidnapping fic but….rape, dehumanization, minor character death. Who the fuck gets killed?! He could see the trepidation on Mark’s face but it was clear he trusted Jack. “if you say it was highly recommended- I mean, the tags on our zombie fic was no walk in the park. I'm sure it's just a good drama.” 

It was a good drama.

A good terrible drama. Jack and Mark were expecting a hammy overdone kidnapping scenario. This one was way too real. The very real idea of them being taken from their hotel rooms at a convention. Which was only made more unsettling by the fact that Jack was visiting because of a convention. It went into excruciating detail about every last bit of Mark being tortured and raped by his kidnappers. Both of them were quickly in tears, horrified by what they were reading but unable to look away. At some point in the story, the torturers killed Chica and Mark couldn't take it anymore. He shoved himself away from the computer in an emotional burst. 

“No! I'm fucking done. That is absolutely all I can read of this glorified snuff fic!” Mark’s shouted, hands in the air. Jack frowned deeply but tried to pull Mark back into his chair. “come on Mark, I know it's rough, but we're not even a tenth of the way through and I was promised that it gets better-” Mark was too upset to listen to Jack. “who the fuck WRITES this? Do our fans just get off on the idea of me and all my friends being brutalized?” Mark was insulted and disgusted. He might have been put off this whole fanfic thing for good if it weren't for Jack looking up at him with those sad worried blue eyes. “It's just a story, Mark. Your fans don't want to see this happen to you, they just want to write a gripping story… it definitely is putting chills down my spine. But I was PROMISED that this was going to turn out happier in the end and that it's not all like this. So please...you don't want to end on this awful note, do you?”

Mark looked down at the ground, folding his arms. “....no. I guess not. Fuck. Fine. It can't get any fucking worse than puppy murder so it can only go uphill from here.” Mark sat down with a sigh. He reached out to hold Jack’s hand. It was beyond comforting just to have. Jack tried hard not to smile. This fic was definitely nothing to smile at, but just the fact that Mark trusted him this much. That he was willing to go through this disturbed adventure so long as Jack was holding his hand. 

The next couple chapters were a slog. There were many times Mark was tensing and squeezing Jacks hand as they read something heartwrenching. Mark curled closer to him whenever Jacks misery was mentioned. Jack needed the comfort to be honest. This stuff was rough. Finally though, they got to the part where Mark was rescued- well, released by the kidnappers. At this point, Mark and Jack’s arms were intertwined with tension. The fanfic was still hard to read, no doubt, but reading about Mark’s recovery was so relieving. Reading about Jack take care of him was heartbreaking but at the same time so comforting. And yet again, like with the zombie fic, it was a fic that didn't start as romantic. Just strong caring feelings. Now that they were past the worst of it, they could definitely see why people were so compelled to read and write this. That feeling was like the calm after playing a horror game. Or like a warm hug after a hard day. The fanfic was the one that GAVE them the hard day to begin with but the point still stands. 

“we’ve been reading for hours. We should probably stop for tonight.” Jack said, still leaning on Mark. Still squeezing his hand. “Yeah...I want to read our Zombie fic but I think we've had enough drama for tonight.” Mark said with a hoarse laugh. Man this fic really was rough on both of them. It left them needing eachothers constant comfort. Neither wanted to let go of the other, so they just sat there for a while. Mark eventually pulled up a video or two of kurzgesagt just so they didn't have to move. 

After their calm down videos they finally got up and went their separate ways to get ready for bed. Neither of them were having a good time trying to sleep. The thought of what happened in the fic somehow happening was shaking them from their rest. Mark thinking of getting kidnapped and tortured because of his celebrity status. Jack thinking about anyone taking Mark from him and being used as another way to torture him. Mark got a small wink of sleep only to be awoken screaming from a nightmare. Jack rushed into Mark’s room, not having slept himself, now terrified that something actually happened to him.

“Sorry Jack...bad dream” Mark said with heavy breaths, shaking his slumped head. Jack sat down next to him on the bed. “Please tell me I’m not the only one still freaked out by that fic.” Mark said looking at Jack sheepishly. It felt silly to get so spooked over writing. Jack placed a hand over Mark’s. “yeah, I've been thinking about it too…” Jack let out a weak laugh before speaking again. “Look at the two of us getting all worked up about stories. We’re going to be alright.” Mark closes his eyes softly as Jacks thumb rubbed over the back of his hand. He could feel his mind calm with Jack just being in the room. 

“Hey …. You wanna watch a movie? I can pull up deadpool or some other good comedy movie.” Mark said, not wanting to admit that he didn't want Jack to leave his side right now. Jack could pick up on it anyways considering he was feeling the same thing right now. “yeah. That would be nice. I'm always up for watching deadpool.” Jack said, scooching closer to Mark in bed and getting comfortable while Mark turned on the tv in his room and got the movie on demand. 

Jack tried not to overthink, but it was hard for him to focus on the movie when he was laying in Mark’s bed, curled up on the man and Mark was completely fine with it. Hell, Mark was probably even more wrapped around Jack with his bad dreams. Before the movie was over, Mark was asleep and Jack was yet again the one left awake, staring at his sleepy face. He pulled off his glasses and put them on the nightstand. He got comfortable in the bed with Mark. If anything, in the morning he could just pretend that they both fell asleep rather than Jack making the conscious decision to stay and cuddle Mark. Mark needed this anyways, he argued to himself. In case of nightmares. 

 

Tomorrow would be the convention and a different fic for them to read. Hopefully another fic that would let them cuddle like this again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super big kudos to Fantismal who wrote Kintsugi: The Gold. Its been a big inspiration to get me writing again and is the fic referenced in this chapter. I haven't finished it yet (heck I haven't read half of Kintsugi: The Clay yet) so no spoilers!


	4. Fictional confessions are easier to read than do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally get to the confession part of the fic they were reading, but can Jack handle saying the words out loud?

The convention felt like it was lasting forever. They drove early in the morning, knowing how hectic it can get from the get go. Mark spent the car ride complaining about how they spent so much time reading that kidnapping fic that they never got to the zombie fic. “oh come on, the kidnapping fic has been good. even if it  _ was  _ literal and metaphorical torture at the beginning. Besides, we’ll read the zombie fic tonight after the convention.” Jack said, turning up the radio after so he didn’t have to listen to Mark grumble. He was such a pouty baby. Jack smiled and looked away. His pouty face was really cute but he shouldn't be caught staring. 

  
The moment they touched that convention floor, they were swarmed by staff, security and fans.

 

So many fans.

 

So many people who just came to shake their hand, sign something, get emotional and cry on their shoulder. It was intense. Mark and Jack were just across from each other at the convention hall, occasionally exchanging looks as their lines for meet and greet seemed to get longer and blend into each other. Jack would occasionally hear usernames and now recognized them as authors of fics he liked and fics he didn’t like. He was appreciative of them all, but his face went pink as he remembered one of the names from a particularly raunchy smut fic. That was an experience, hugging and being friendly to a stranger that the only thing you knew about them was their porn preferences….and those porn preferences was you and your best friend. But he powered through without being called out on his reddening face. 

 

Staring across the hall was the most of Mark he was going to get while at the convention. Because the rest of the day, they had separate panels and separate schedules. At his panel someone asked with all the new egos if he’s ever tried reading some of the fanfic. Needless to say, he lied. He lied so bad. He wanted to give shoutouts and love to certain fics he had read recently, but he knew if he did that, his inbox would be flooded with fics. People would freak out like they did every time he reblogged art. It would be chaos. 

 

At least he could share his love and appreciation with his fake accounts. Maybe he could write some fics himself one day….no that would be too weird. He knew they didn’t have to be about himself, they could be the last guardian or life is strange or something, but the temptation would be to strong to do something with Anti or chase or any of the egos.    
  
Maybe that was something he could do with Mark. He did bring it up once, even if at the time he was joking.

 

Jack let those thoughts fade with the long day. By the time he was driving back home with Mark, they were both exhausted. And they had to wake up tomorrow and do the whole thing over again. Ughhhhh.  Jack started to suggest that they just hit the hay and call it a day, but Mark cut him off SO fast. “NO. I have been thinking about that zombie fic ALL FUCKING DAY. I don’t care, were reading that new chapter! With how long we’ve held this off, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a NEW new chapter” Mark spoke with exaggerated intensity. Jack started laughing at his impatience. “Didn’t Momipler ever teach you to wait? You’ve been so antsy since I arrived” Jack said.    
Mark pulled into the driveway of his house with a hard break. “Well I just want to know what happens! Don’t you? Don’t act like you’re not eager to find out if they made a cure- and if they do, where do you even GO from there? does the story end- It said it was septiplier so I imagine Fanfic me is going to confess his undying love- no pun intended.” Mark said, turning to Jack when they were finally parked. His joke intensity turned into sincerity, and it made Jack grin from ear to ear. “You’re really into this…..Glad I’m not alone. Lets finish this fic. You pull it up on the computer, I’ll get the snacks.”

 

When they finally got down to it and were all ready, they were….disappointed. It’s not as if it was bad writing, it just wasn’t the ending or story continuation they were hoping for. It was just a normal filler update, and while it was enjoyable, it was also short.    
  
“Thats it? Seriously? I held back for nearly a month when we could have just read that?!” Mark pushed away from the computer and Jack after they got to the end of the chapter. “Yeaaaaahhh guess we have to wait for the next update….but if you’re still in the mood for reading, we can try the kidnapping fic again. We got pretty far.” Jack already started to reopen the fic from yesterday. 

 

Mark mulled it over “I...I dont know… that fic is...a LOT.” Mark pulled closer to Jack again, just thinking about the fic made him want to curl into Jack’s arms. It felt silly to get so worried but he knew Jack understood. “We got through the worst part of it. It can only be good from here. I want to see this through to the end. You trust me, right?” Jack said, holding out his hand for Mark to take. Mark deliberated for a few more seconds before taking that hand and squeezing it. “Alright, you got me. Let’s read this bad boy. ”   
  
They got quickly absorbed, just like they had with the zombie fic. Except this time, it officially got romantic. At least on one side. Jack looked up at Mark nervously for a moment when the fic mirrored his own feelings. Fanfic Jack had feelings for Fanfic Mark that he was worried weren’t returned. Fanfic Jack worried that he was taking advantage of Fanfic Marks vulnerable state.

 

Was Jack taking advantage too? He knew this fic had upset Mark but he kept pushing it because it made Mark cling to him, cuddle with him, cry with him. Hell, with ALL of this fanfic, it just made Mark closer to him in their relationship. Was that the only reason he was even doing this anymore? Just to be with Mark? ….Was that so wrong?   
  
Jack got nervous and blushed as they started to read fanfic Jack deliberate over his feelings and get ready to tell Mark. As usual for fics they were doing their own voice acting and reading along. How did Mark not see he was bright red reading these feelings so genuinely? He looked over at Mark and- was he blushing too? Well, it was embarrassing. Of course, that must be it. He was reading a love scene with his friend after all. That can be flustering regardless of feelings. Mark caught Jack staring at him and turned to give Jack his attention. He took a quick glance at the screen and then back to Jack, repeating his line while looking at Jack, waiting expectantly for Jack to continue. Jack looked at his line.  _ I love you.  _ “I-....I...” Jack kept looking between Marks big brown eyes and the screen before them. Mark looked so desperate, hanging on his words.  “I think that’s enough for tonight, it’s getting late and we have the convention again in the morning. ” He swallowed hard and looked away. 

 

This was too much. He couldn’t do this. He had done it before, Made grander claims and poetically waxed about how much he loved Mark because of fics they had read together in the past. But now that Jack knew how he felt about Mark, it was all too much. He couldn’t say his line and just pass it off as “good acting.” Mark tried to catch Jack’s gaze. “Hey, come on, we can’t quit in the middle of a chapter! Especially when it’s in an intense moment. Let’s just finish this chapter and then we can stop.” Mark said, completely oblivious as to why Jack would want to stop. Mark reread his line, acting with passion and trying to get eye to eye with Jack.  Jack’s throat went dry. He finally looked back up at those expectant eyes and oh god he felt like he was in a fic of his own. 

 

“Iloveyou.notasafriend.notforawhilenow.” Jack sped through his line with no feeling, now looking straight at the fic to avoid Mark’s eyes. Mark groaned “No, No! Come on, this is what this whole fic was building up to. I thought you liked voice acting! What kind of performance was that?” Jack looked back at him, throwing his hands up. “Since when were we rating each others performance?” Mark smiled, clearly out of the moment of the fic. “Since shut up. Youre always good at reading with feeling. I love when you do it right, it really gets me into the fic. Now tell me you love me with conviction, like you really mean it!” Mark said, prepping himself and hamming it up. He grabbed Jack hands and brought them up so they nearly brushed over his own lips like he was hiding his face behind them and batting his eyelashes. “Please.” Mark breathed out his line again.

 

Jack was a wreck. He didn’t think his heart could take this. Mark was so close. Just do it, just get it over with so you can keep pretending that you don't feel the way you do. “I-....I love you” Jacks voice was so soft, his body relaxed, sinking into Marks hands.  "Not...Not as a friend. Not for a while now. I...I'm sorry." 

 

Mark was taken aback, now glowing red. “You’re...a really good actor. Wow.” Mark coughed, blinking rapidly like he was trying to process. “ ‘Youre a really good actor’ is not your line.” Jack teased. Teasing helps him not to think about how his heart was breaking. “Sorry um...” Mark finally broke their intense eye contact to look at the computer screen. He continued reading the confession.

 

The both of them ‘acted’ with immense feeling. The entire time, they kept holding each others hands. Mark started to notice that even though Jack’s lines were now very happy, in between lines Jack would sink further and further. “I love you.” Mark read the line, and that made Jack completely close off, looking like he was a kicked puppy. The moment they finished the chapter, Jack pulled his hands away and got up from his chair. 

 

“time for bed.” He said quickly, just wanting to leave before he started getting choked up. This was so embarrassing and hurtful. He got to see Mark say everything he fantasized about, but it was a lie. Just a story. Jack quickly turned away but Mark grabbed his hand. “Wait- Please don’t go. Did I do something wrong?...I’m sorry if I pushed you with the acting, you’re a great actor. I mean genuinely incredible. I’d almost believe you really...” Mark tried to coax Jack back, but could see how he was tensing further.    
  
“Don’t worry about it. Trust me- Just- please Mark, let me go.” Jack tried to tug his hand away but Mark had a firm grip. Mark stood up and pulled Jack closer. “You’re upset and it’s my fault somehow.” Mark spoke, desperately trying to retrace his steps to the exact moment that Jack went from content to uncomfortable. “ ‘I love you’.  that was the line you started getting upset- Is it because its Septiplier fic and you’re uncomfortable? Because if it makes you uncomfortable, we don’t have to read it anymore.”

 

“no its not- please.” Jack didn’t want to hear it.

 

”Your comfort and happiness is the most important thing to me.” Mark spoke with such sincerity It made Jack freeze in his tracks.

 

“Now you’re just starting to sound like the fics” Jack finally spoke with a pained half laugh. It was so bittersweet.    
  
“Maybe….does that make you uncomfortable?” Mark looked dead serious, not letting Jack change the mood so easily.   
  
Jack looked down, thinking this over. Should he lie? should he pretend he hated the attention or the thought of them being together. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. He was uncomfortable, but not with septiplier, but how he felt. “sort of-”   
  
“Right- sorry, I’ll stop. goodnight.” Mark frowned and released Jack immediately.   
  
Jack was quick to correct himself, not wanting to leave Mark like he did something wrong. “No- I mean. It’s not bad- Its fine. It’s just uncomfortable because” Jack bit his lip. did he want to admit this? Did he really want to destroy everything so easily? “... _ because _ I like it when you talk like that. I like it too much.”   
  
“Oh...  **_Oh._ ** ” It suddenly hit Mark like a ton of bricks. Jack wanted to crawl into a hole and die. “I’m going to bed, I’m sorry to make you uncomfortable. goodnight.” Jack spoke lightning quick and tried to run out the office door. Mark quickly jumped in the doorway, blocking his path. Jack was looking down and didn’t see Mark, so he collided into his chest with how much he was slumped. 

 

“I’m not uncomfortable.” Mark said firmly.

  
“What?”   
  
“You have nothing to apologize for, I’m not uncomfortable with it, with  _ any _ of it. ”   
  
“How could you not be?- Doesn’t matter. I’m uncomfortable. Uncomfortable with saying these things and not meaning it and….and I’ve said too much. Please Mark, Just forget all of this and step aside. Just let us forget this, we don’t have to read another fic. ”   
  


Mark didn’t want to move. He knew Jack just wanted to escape and it felt wrong to keep him like this, but he needed answers. “I don’t want to stop reading together. I don’t want to forget. I don’t care what your answer is, I won’t be upset either way. I just need to know that I haven’t been reading too much fic and I’m actually understanding this situation correctly.  Seán . Do you have feelings for me?”   
  
Jack’s breath shook. His whole being shook. This was mortifying. Mark had to be faking it, trying his best not to be upset to maintain their friendship. Something. Anything to explain why he would corner him like this. Ask him so straightforwardly. He was so scared. Scared of ruining everything. Seeing those eyes turned against him. “You’ve been reading too much fic.” Jack said coldly. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t admit it. He had to leave before he completely broke down. He pushed Mark aside and walked past him. Mark let himself be pushed away. “Goodnight.” Jack said before running off to his room and shutting the door. 

 

Mark was left standing there, alone. Alone with his own buzzing mind and feelings and wondering what Jack must mean to him if that hurt so much. 

 


	5. Writing is hard, Reading is easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark writes something for Jack

Jack was silent all through breakfast. All through the car ride to the convention. At most, he would answer with yes or no to simple questions, or one word answers. Mark couldn’t stand it. He had to fix this. Every free second he had that day at the convention, he was on his phone, typing away. He wanted to make something for Jack. Something to make him feel better. Something to convey the way Mark felt. Even If Jack thought he was just reading too much fic. The way Jack said that just left him with an awful feeling in his gut. He looked across the way to Jacks signing table. He was able to fake being happy for his fans really well, but he could see that emotionally drained look in his eyes. 

He barely got 500 words in with how busy he was throughout the day. It wasn’t much but it would have to do. He didn’t want to wait another day like this. “You want to read something tonight?” Mark asked on the drive back to his house. “I don’t feel like it.” Jack mumbled quietly, looking distant out the window. “It’s a new one. and it’s really short….if you want, I could just read it to you if you don’t have the energy to read.” Mark said, giving Jack a couple glances while driving, trying to gauge his reaction. Jack glanced back, twiddling his thumbs as he thought it over. He loved Mark’s voice. Maybe hearing him read wouldn’t hurt as bad as having to read it himself. “Okay. ” Jack replied finally. 

Mark as always set up the office with the fic and their chairs. Jack sat back and waited for him to set up, not bothering to get snacks for a short fic. This felt like a bad idea. Why did he let Mark talk him into this? Mark called him over when he was ready and Jack slumped in his chair. He rolled it away from Mark’s chair. Away from their usual cuddle position. Mark frowned at the distance but he began reading anyways. 

Jack shifted as he saw the septiplier tag. This was a bad idea. But he melted so easily to Mark’s silky honey voice. The fic seemed to all be Marks point of view. Marks words speaking to Jack, but Jack not replying. 

“It took me the night to realize it. I was so blind and confused, but you were always right there. Everything that we did together, I found myself getting closer, wanting and needing to be closer to you. Every fanfic we read together made me question not only what I’m supposed to feel as the reader, but also what I’m supposed to feel as your friend.”

Jack perked up in his chair. “t-this one is about reading fic?”Jack asked, wondering if Mark picked this one out specifically because of last night. Mark didn't stop reading to reply. 

“As your friend, it was natural to have fun with you and to empathize when you were at your highs and lows with any given story. But as a reader, I was worried what that might mean to empathize with the characters in the story. Especially when those characters represented us. Represented you. I never felt more at ease than that night you came into my room after my nightmare and held me through a movie until I felt okay enough to sleep in your arms.” Mark barely glanced at the screen, knowing the words well enough. 

It was too real, too accurate. Mark wouldn’t have- he couldn’t. “Mark, What are you-” Jack tried to stop him, but Mark kept reading. 

“It felt like something out of a story. A nice dream...but for me it was so real. It was my real life. I never wanted you to feel pressured. I never want to make you feel like you have to hide. I just want to talk to you again. to make things right. to let you know, that even if you think it’s all in my head and just the result of ‘too much fanfiction’. I don’t care. Because the only thing I care about right now, is you.” Mark took Jack’s hand and pulled him in close. “I don't want you to have to feel uncomfortable anymore. And- well fuck If I read the signs wrong, then thats embarrassing and I'll hate myself for that later, but it doesn’t matter right now. Even if you don’t feel the same way, I want you to know. I think I have feelings for you. Honest and truly. ” Mark’s eyes were locked on Jacks. “This is real Mark talking now. not some fanfic.”

That was as far as Mark got to writing today. There was so much more he wanted to say, and yet all that felt so excessive. Writing was too hard. Especially when it was personal. He looked at Jack, wracked with nerves as he watched Jack's frozen expression for any change. Oh god did he read the signs wrong? Maybe Jack wasn't expecting this- “sorry- that was really cheesy. Guess I'm not cut out to be a writ-” Mark was silenced by Jacks lips, suddenly pressing gently against his own.

Mark exhaled deeply into Jack, relief sweeping over him at the confirmation of affection. He felt his racing heart calm. He reached his hand up to brush against Jacks cheek, suddenly feeling that it was damp. He quickly opened his eyes to see Jack was crying and pulled away from their tender kiss. “What? What did I do wrong now?” Mark said, half joking in tone but half genuinely worried. Jack covered his face, trying to wipe away his sudden emotion. “you fucking goober, I thought you were just trying to be nice to me despite actually being uncomfortable about this because you didn't like me that way” 

“IM THE GOOBER? No, YOU’RE the goober. I thought I somehow hurt you with all this and that you maybe didn’t like me anymore because of it!” Mark let out a bit of frustration sagging into his seat. “fuck you, you DID hurt me!” Jack shouted, but clearly no genuine venom to his words. He let himself be pulled into Marks arms. He really did give the best hugs in the world. “I didn't mean to! It's not my fault….I'm sorry. I should have just told you last night that i felt the same- I mean I would have. I honestly didn't know. Not until you were so upset and I realized I'd do anything in the world to make you smile again.” Mark spoke low and soft into Jack's hair as he pet the nape of his neck slowly. 

Jack groaned into his chest, feeling his face heat up. “uggghhh why do you have to be such a romantic ham? You stole that line from a fic, didn’t you?” he mumbled into Marks chest. “swear on my channel, I came up with that cheese all on my own. Although I have to say, I've gotten a lot of inspiration and help recently with all these stories.” Mark chuckled, looking fondly down at Jack. “that is the worst idea, don’t get ideas from fanfiction, real people don't talk like that.” Jack rolled his eyes before looking back up at Mark. Gosh, Marks goofy grin. It was so beautiful and yet so stupid. So absolutely silly with a twinge of smug that he wanted to smack off his face. 

“Naaaahh real people don’t talk like that but I’ve been reading fic with you for months now. I've been seeing how dewy eyed and gooey you get about the cheesiest lines. I’m a romantic, you’re just the absolute sap that eats that stuff up.” Mark pulled away, looking Jack up and down and snickering. “BITCH, COME AT ME. You don't know SHIT about me. ” Jack jokingly screamed but he knew he was caught. He 100% loved all that romantic horseshit. He rolled his eyes at all the overdone sappy crap but deep down it gave him the warm and fuzzies inside. 

“I know fuckin EVERYTHING about you. I'M THE ALL KNOWING, ALL SEEING MARKIPLUR, BITCH. YOU COME HERE.” Mark scooped Jack up again, this time pulling him into his lap and blowing raspberries into his neck. Jack squirmed in Marks grip as it tickled. “aH! get off me, ya weirdo!” Jack cried between laughs. “that tickles!-” in squirming around to avoid Mark, he accidentally knocked him hard in the gut. That definitely made Mark stop. He doubled over, head in Jacks shoulder. “oh fuck! I'm sorry- I didn’t mean to actually” Jack worried trying to look at Marks face to see if he's alright. Mark coughed and let out a weak laugh. “no, that's fine. I probably deserved that.”

Jack pecked Mark on the forehead. “I'm still sorry… why don’t we get some ice cream and read some more of that kidnapping fic tonight? I think we've only got a couple chapters left.”

Mark rolled his head to look up at Jack. “that could be nice...you want to grab your laptop and move to the couch instead? Its harder to cuddle between two rolling chairs” Mark was so glad he could be so upfront about wanting to cuddle now. 

“Net-fics and chill!!” Jack said with far too much delight on his face for coming up with that pun. Mark gave an over the top frown. “NOPE. no fan fiction tonight, you're grounded for that one. Outta my house.” Mark rose, pushing Jack off him, but Jack immediately clung back to him. “you wouldn't kick me out, you ~liiiiiike like me” Jack teased like a schoolyard child and stuck his tongue out. “Pft- yeah right. Don't know where you got that from. Its not like I wrote a fic dedicated to you or anything” Mark smiled and looked away, walking out of the office arm and arm with Jack. 

“Speaking of your letter of undying love, did you actually post that thing? Do you actually have an AO3 account?” Jack asked. “I mean, yeah. I tried to get the name Markiplier but someone already took it so I had to go with SeptiplierTouchesPenors6969” Mark spoke so casually that Jack burst out laughing. “you didnt.” 

“I did indeed”

“I’m disowning you. Mr.SeptiplierTouchesPenors6969” 

“finally. Now I can write smut fanfic in peace without your kinkshaming.”

The two of them were giggly bitches for the rest of the night. They cuddled with chica on the couch, finding some light hearted fic to read. After finishing the last one for the night, they agreed that maybe they shouldn't go on such a spree like they had these last few days and maybe just stick to fridays. Mark wanted to go to bed but Jack had other plans. They shifted so Jack was laying on top of him on the couch at this point. 

“hey Mark...if you have an account, and I have an account, maybe we should work together to write something in secret. I bet we could blow up the fandom with some ego fics.” 

“....we can start something next friday, I’m beat…..maybe something to do with Wilford and that old timey guy you had from Halloween.” 

“JJ...and yeah, I got a couple of ideas already.” 

Fanfic Fridays has a whole new meaning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its short but Its an open ended ending! I'm probably not going to write about them writing, but who knows, inspiration might strike. There's definitely going to be one more spin off smut chapter so look out for that :D


End file.
